In mid-April of 2013, with Xi Jinping regime in saddle, the PLA set up a camp nearly 19 kilometres west of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near the Raki Nala in India’s strategically sensitive Depsang Plains part of Eastern Ladakh. The intrusion came to the countrymen’s notice after some ten days, and that led to much consternation among the people and their representatives in the Parliament, besides, of course, our active television media.

The Presidential election in Iran has resulted in Mr. Ebrahim Raisi’s victory by 62 percent of the votes. The election coincided with the talks in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal. Both the events came at a time when the situation in Afghanistan is worsening. A protracted civil war or a Taliban takeover in Kabul will have implications for the security of the region. The mujahedin victory in Afghanistan presaged trouble in J&K. There does not appear to be any change in Talibans’ behaviour. They have not accepted Afghanistan’s constitution or the plural civil society in that country.